IT WAS reported that Bertille St Clair was fired as Trinidad and Tobago's football coach on March 30, following the team's poor run of form in the CONCACAF World Cup Final Round Qualifications. But, like the American Terri Shiavo, St Clair's reign as coach was actually in a comatose state long before his removal. In fact, St Clair's role as coach really ended on November 20, 2004, following a three-hour long "Meeting of the Minds" at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya, Tunapuna. The meeting, which was hastily arranged by Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) special advisor Jack Austin Warner, came three days after a 2-1 victory over St Vincent in a World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo a match described by many who saw it as one of the worst displays by a TT football team.
At a luncheon for the team at the Emerald Plaza, St Augustine, on November 18, Warner slammed the players for their unsatisfactory display and also noted that changes had to be implemented if the team were to advance to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In his typical brusque style, St Clair hastily left the function after Warner's statement, which left members of the media at the event wondering if the die had already been cast. The simple fact that a discussion was held concerning the team's tactical organisation was enough to suggest that St Clair's head had to roll. At the coach's behest, former captain David Nakhid was added to the technical staff as a player/coach but the results, as well as St Clair's coaching methods, never improved. St Clair previously held the position as coach from May 1997 until February 2000.
During that time, he guided TT to two Caribbean Cup titles a semif-inal spot in the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup while, as in his lengthy stay as head of Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive, he copped four national Intercol and six league crowns. But, ever since he was re-appointed as TT boss on January 16, 2004, to replace Stuart Charles-Fevrier, questions were raised about St Clair's leadership style. This reporter also decried by St Clair after his first match at the helm, a lacklustre 1-1 draw against the Brazil Over-30s, on February 17. St Clair took umbrage when I wrote, on evidence of Tuesday's performance, it will need a dramatic change of fortunes, even a miracle, for the Journey to Germany 2006 dream to be realised. When he was first sacked as coach five years ago, the TTFF noted that 'st Clair lacked serious technical experience, in spite of some team victories, and it was decided that he should be exposed to overseas training in England with a view to improving his competence.
According to a statement by the federation, further meetings were held with St Clair regarding his team selection as well as his coaching methods, with no apparent improvement in either area. The TTFF, in an effort to lighten St Clair's workload, then relieved him of (the) Olympic team and offered him the services of a foreign coach to assist him with the coaching of the national team, especially the defence an offer which he bluntly refused. The TTFF continued to be disappointed in St Clair's technical competence and, in a meeting with him and the entire staff, he was then advised that he had until the Gold Cup competition to visibly improve his technical competence by winning the competition. He accepted this and, moreover, requested that his contract should be renewed now or else after the Gold Cup, the federation will have to pay real money, when he succeeded.
While the TTFF were dismayed at the team's performances during the competition, to add insult to injury, mere hours before the (semi-final) match against Canada, a group of senior players led by Nakhid, who was recalled from retirement without the federation's approval and inclusive of St Clair (who opted to represent the local players) requested a meeting with Warner to discuss the disbursement of the (US$50,000) prize money. The players rejected Dwight Yorke's plea to delay the meeting until the tournament concluded while Warner refused to deal with the matter. Generally speaking, the statement, which was released to the public on March 2, 2000, was as applicable then as it is now. St Clair constantly boasted that he was the only coach from Trinidad and Tobago to guide a team to a World Cup the FIFA World Youth Championships in Portugal 1991.
While this is true, with a team led by Yorke and including Clayton Ince, Angus Eve, Jerren Nixon (players used during his recent regime), his record at the event was disgraceful. Statistics speak for themselves a 2-0 loss to Australia on June 15, a 6-0 hammering by Egypt on June 18 and a 4-0 whipping by the Soviet Union on June 20. St Clair ostracised himself from fellow local-based coaches, including assistants Ron La Forest and Michael "Brow" Maurice, a number of footballing administrators and the general media due to his self-important style. Following a press conference on March 30, moments after TT held Costa Rica to a goalless draw, St Clair berated a television journalist after he was questioned about his job. "What sort of stupid question you'll ask me?" St Clair yelled. "You see me, in Tobago, I live like a king you know."
And that was another of St Clair's many shortcomings as coach, his insistence that the public discriminated against him because he was a Tobagonian. But that was not the case. The plain fact was that the team was in dire need of changes in two departments, personnel and technical. Angus Eve was shockingly appointed as the team's captain even though the midfielder, in the twilight of his career, seemed incapable of lasting an entire 90 minutes. While the likes of Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick, Marlon Rojas, Densil Theobald, Anton Pierre and Scott Sealy were introduced into the fold, with positive effects, there were too much tactical errors, especially in the area of player selection. The goalkeeping position was never settled, with Shaka Hislop, Clayton Ince and Daurance Williams juggling for the top spot while Jan-Michael Williams was constantly sidelined.
Derek King was also given an extended run in the defence, with Keyeno Thomas and David Atiba Charles used as after-thoughts while Brent Rahim, Andre Boucaud, Anthony Rougier, Stokely Mason were preferred instead of the youthful energy of Silvio Spann, Travis Mulraine and Kerry Baptiste in the midfield. Even Jason Nelson was plucked from nowhere to don the national colours during the team's 2-1 victory over American A-League club Atlanta Silverbacks on March 23. But the most controversial issue surrounded Yorke, who was given the captain's armband a month after making yet another comeback to the international arena. While St Clair constantly tried to plaster the sores, it became clear that, on current form, Yorke, Hislop, Eve and Stern John will be hard-pressed to maintain their spots on the starting line-up.
In 2005 to date, with TT beaten by St Vincent, Antigua, Haiti, the United States, Jamaica, Cuba and Guatemala, St Clair noted, ad nauseum, that the team conceeded a number of 'soft goals'. The TTFF were indeed soft on St Clair, as he seemed incapable of turning around the fortunes of the team during the last few months. Even the use of Graham Taylor as a technical consultant failed to pay dividends as the former English coach knew little of the local and American-based players. Now, another world-rated tactician, Leo Beenhakker of the Netherlands, and his assistants Nakhid and Russell Latapy, will all try to do what St Clair failed to achieve, gain the entire nation's support for the team's World Cup drive.